What Causes the Hips to Rotate in a HL Swing?

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Oct 13, 2014
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South Cali
That back leg move is like a shortstop going in the hole and making the throw to first with a mid air jump. It can be done but if you could plant and get momentum and weight transfer to the front side it would be more desirable and more powerful. The movements are correct and Teacherman is onto something as a drill to promote correct movements. Certainly he doesn't espouse hitting while standing on your back leg.
Is anybody here promoting a "jump throw" type of swing just because it's possible?

Asking me? Not sure. I don’t advocate any jumping when hitting.
 
May 12, 2016
4,338
113
Rotate around front hip/leg, rotate around back hip/leg.... I think somebody said rotate around your spine and that's what makes most sense to me.
 
Apr 5, 2013
2,130
83
Back on the dirt...
The point of standing on the REAR leg and swinging is to get a feel of where the DRIVE for the swing comes from. Yes, you need to be between the legs to actually swing but the power comes from the backside. IMO
 
Jul 29, 2013
1,199
63
Rotate around front hip/leg, rotate around back hip/leg.... I think somebody said rotate around your spine and that's what makes most sense to me.
Rotating around the hips doesn't work as powerfully as necessary to generate the high level swing. Consider the muscles involved in rotating the femur in the hip socket vs hip extension.250px-Posterior_Hip_Muscles_1.PNG.png200px-Anterior_Hip_Muscles_2.PNG.pngindex(2).jpg
250px-Posterior_Hip_Muscles_1.PNG.pngThe lateral rotator group is a group of six small muscles of the hip which all externally (laterally) rotate the femur in the hip joint. It consists of the following muscles: Piriformis, gemellus superior, obturator internus, gemellus inferior, quadratus femoris and the obturator externus.[1]
Medial rotation is performed by the gluteus medius and gluteus minimus, as well as the tensor fasciae latae and assisted by the adductors brevis and longus and the superior portion of the adductor magnus.

These aren't the large, powerful muscles that are the hip extensors.
Why not move in such a way that the large muscles get involved?

Hip Extensors. The primary hip extensors are the gluteus maximus and the hamstrings (i.e., the long head of the biceps femoris, the semitendinosus, and the semimembranosus).
 
May 12, 2016
4,338
113
The point of standing on the REAR leg and swinging is to get a feel of where the DRIVE for the swing comes from. Yes, you need to be between the legs to actually swing but the power comes from the backside. IMO
But why? I understand the point of staying back and controlling temple so that a hitter can adjust to any speed. But why would an athlete only engage one side of his/her body to generate power?
 
Apr 20, 2018
4,581
113
SoCal
"Well technically there is no "weight" (actually pressure) on the front foot until foot strike but yes after that the foot pressure will continually increase. In a good swing, imo, the pressure will see a large jump shortly after swing launch which is what eventually causes the front leg to straighten. "

Question for Pattar or any other smart guy:

If the rear leg (foot) had a scale under it and a hitter weight is 200 lbs, what would the scale read just prior to toe touch or front foot touching the ground? 200lbs? Where is the weight go during the shift? Does the hitter become unweighted?
 

rdbass

It wasn't me.
Jun 5, 2010
9,131
83
Not here.
why would an athlete only engage one side of his/her body to generate power?
Do you think both rear and front side weren't 'engage' during this drill?
LittleLakerDrill.gif

Drill gives the hitter the feel of the rear leg/hip usage.
 
Jun 8, 2016
16,118
113
"Well technically there is no "weight" (actually pressure) on the front foot until foot strike but yes after that the foot pressure will continually increase. In a good swing, imo, the pressure will see a large jump shortly after swing launch which is what eventually causes the front leg to straighten. "

Question for Pattar or any other smart guy:

If the rear leg (foot) had a scale under it and a hitter weight is 200 lbs, what would the scale read just prior to toe touch or front foot touching the ground? 200lbs? Where is the weight go during the shift? Does the hitter become unweighted?

Taken from: Fortenbaugh, David. "The biomechanics of the baseball swing." (2011).
GRFz would be the scale measurement and BW=bodyweight

For the stride portion phase:

"Throughout the stride, the trail foot pushed with a constant GRFx of 21% BW
while the GRFz gradually rose from 86% BW to a peak value of 92% BW around −500
59 ms and then began to fall back down to 83% BW.

For swing initiation phase (not sure how he defined this but lets just assume it is close to what we call launch):

"This phase was marked by major movements in the lower body and moderate
movements in the upper body. The lead foot GRFx increased rapidly from 11% BW to
its maximum value of 50% BW while GRFy peaked at 28% BW around −123 ms. By
definition, the lead foot GRFz rose quickly during the swing initiation phase from 50%
BW to its maximum value of 130% BW. The trail foot GRFy also peaked during this
phase (24% BW) around −127 ms, while the trail foot GRFz waned from 47% BW to
34% BW."

For swing acceleration phase (after initiation until contact):
"The lower body was still very active during the beginning of the swing
acceleration phases, while very rapid movements in the upper body occurred just before
BC at the end of phase. All of the GRF dissipated during this phase, both in the lead foot
(Fx: −50% BW to −13% BW; Fy: 24% BW to −5% BW; Fz: 130% BW to 64% BW) and
the trail foot (Fx: 10% BW to −3% BW; Fy: 20% BW to 1% BW; Fz: 34% BW to 15%
BW). "
 
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